Little Witch Academia

This is cute! It has some minor spoilers from the TV show in it, so watch that first if you care about that.

This is basically a volume of manga that expanded from a pretty good one-shot. It's not trying to be anything more than a few adventures at Luna Nova, edging on comedy. It's very much like the first half of the show, in that way, and the first half of the show was my favorite part, so I got a lot out of it.

The way that the artist draws Akko is just perfect, and all the other character designs from the show are still great here. The art is really just good all around, really. Nice backgrounds, nice expressions, very dynamic. There are even a few two-page spreads that had me pausing to take them in because they were so detailed.

If you're like me and watched the anime before, then you are sure to feel the same joy by reading the manga.

For those of you who haven't seen the series Little Witch Academia is a story about Akko and her adventures at Luna Nova, the school where she learns magic to be like and one day meet her idol, Chariot.
The manga is it a little short for the development of the characters to really shine, but it does an okay job in getting the gist across. That being said, I do enjoy all the characters and liked seeing their interactions throughout my reading.
The story follows some of the material from the anime, but also includes some original pieces which I defiantly appreciated. Most chapters are essentially short adventures, but some do span over a few. I found most of them to be enjoyable, and they hit a wide variety of emotions throughout.
The art follows the usual "Trigger" style you'd come to expect if you've seen/read any of their work before and does a great job of conveying the emotions and humour of each panel.

Overall, Little Witch Academia is a really enjoyable manga, although a little short as a standalone story as the characters don't get as much development as the series. But, the manga will have you laughing and smiling throughout. If you've seen the anime before, then this will be perfect for you. If you haven't, I would recommend trying it and seeing if Akko and her crazy adventures are for you.

Little Witch Academia is one of that anime that you finish and realise that it is one of the most 7.5/10 anime ever. But if you are like me and just fall in love with the characters, setting, art style, themes or anything else really and just feel like you need more, than this manga is for you. This 3 volume manga covers some of anime's most important first 12 episodes (Ep.1 - Starting Over / A New Beginning, ep. 5 - Pact of the Dragon / Luna Nova and the White Dragon, ep. 6 - The Fountain / The Fountain of Polaris etc.) What makes this manga great is the fact that all other chapters are manga original. They introduce new characters, stories, creatures, while staying true to the themes of the original anime. Single greatest thing that manga does is that it provides us with the backstories and character development for most of the characters, especially the ones that didn't get time to shine before, characters like Jasminka Antonenko, Barbara Parker etc. Art style is absolutely phenomenal, it is very Trigger-esk, with it's unique turn on it to stand out. Keisuke Sato's art is clean and full of life. Personally, I would advise you to watch anime first, then read the manga. Sadly the manga only has 3 volumes and ending that makes you want more. Anime's ending was pretty similar in the way that it didn't have end to the story, more like just an end to the part of a larger story. My advice is that you watch anime and then read the manga for better understanding and because it's fun to compare the two. The reason why this manga is personally my favourite piece of LWA content is because of just how much it managed to accomplish in only 3 volumes.

In the summary, go and watch the anime first, then decide if you like it enough to give this manga a go. If you end up liking or even loving the anime, then this manga will give you even more LWA goodness and it will make me happy to know that I convinced someone out there to check out one of my favourite series.

When I finished the anime, I found that I enjoyed the first half significantly more because of how loose it was and how it focused less on the search for the words than on the interactions between the characters. This manga was basically exactly what I wanted it to be, as a bridge between the two parts of the series. This starts at the very beginning, and one or two other stories from the anime are also adapted, but most of them are one-and-done character pieces from before Akko learned the importance of the Shiny Rod's words. And they were just so slick! There's ones for Jasminka and Constanze and Sucy and Lotte and even the legendary broom. Everyone gets a turn and it's such a fun, worthwhile time.

The art looks like it popped directly off the screen, which I find I like less in Akko's case compared to the other manga adaptation. For the rest of the cast, I could take either, but the designs are great and well-realized here.

Watch the anime first, but definitely give this a look if you want more.